


Tony Stark Needs Sleep Squad

by doctornineandthreequarters



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Needs Sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 14:44:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17900108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctornineandthreequarters/pseuds/doctornineandthreequarters
Summary: Once this became a habit, Rhodey had created a very exclusive club that only the people closest to Tony were a part of. He called it the ‘Tony Stark Needs Sleep Squad’. It was an illustrious group with only three members. The name was wordy but the purpose was clear. The damn idiot needed to sleep.





	Tony Stark Needs Sleep Squad

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really know what this is. Just an idea that hit me. Enjoy.

Rhodey had known Tony for over thirty years. And in that time he had learnt a lot. He had learned to never doubt Tony whose genius could solve any problem set in front of him. He had learned that Tony thought he could tolerate more alcohol than most and pretended that his hangover wasn’t as severe as it was (and it was always bad, Rhodey had sit on far too many bathroom floors listening to Tony vomit). He knew that letting people in was hard and that Tony tried to keep the amount of people he was comfortable trusting to a minimum (something that Rhodey loved to blame Howard Stark for). But for all his faults, Tony had grown since becoming Iron Man. Sure, sometimes he was a total jackass, but it seemed more and more like he knew it. But for all the growth Rhodey had seen, there was one thing that would never change.

The stubborn idiot wouldn’t sleep.

Tony had once argued that Einstein only needed three hours sleep, which only someone as smug as Tony Stark could argue. Rhodey didn’t know when Tony’s lack of sleep started, but it drove him crazy to watch his friend lock himself in his lab and work himself past exhaustion. Once this became a habit, Rhodey had created a very exclusive club that only the people closest to Tony were a part of.

He called it the ‘Tony Stark Needs Sleep Squad’. It was an illustrious group with only three members. The name was wordy but the purpose was clear. The damn idiot needed to sleep.

Today was no exception. Tony had been in the lab, tinkering, for hours. He was going on sixty hours without sleeping.

After twenty-four hours without sleep, Rhodey decided to intervene. Rhodey had tried everything. He had gone in and talked Tony’s ear off, hoping politics would put him to sleep. He talked for close to two hours before he realized it just wasn’t working. At some point, he realized Tony was just ignoring him. He eventually got frustrated and left. 

Pepper, the second official member of the group, had gone in next. Her first thought was to throw Stark Industries papers at him to sign. Her foolish hope was that if he stopped tinkering, he’d realize he needed a break. That was not the case. Then she tried to convince him it was date night and he needed to spend some time with her, because you know they were getting married. When they didn’t work, she thought about seducing him, but that felt wrong. She did offer to share a shower with him, but he just sort of mumbled a response. He did keep reminding her that he loved her, which was fine and not the issue. The issue was him not sleeping.

They knew his lack of sleep had only been exacerbated after Germany and Siberia. Tony hadn’t been the same since he came back. Rhodey had hoped that Pepper coming back and them getting engaged would’ve alleviated some of that pain, and it did. But there was a still a part of Tony that was broken from what had happened.

Happy was the third member of the group, but was usually the most inefficient. Happy would just ramble about security protocols and point out things that needed to be fixed. Normally, Tony would crack some sort of joke and ignore him. But on hour fifty without sleep, he didn’t have much to say.

“It’s bad,” Happy said. “Real bad. He didn’t crack one joke. Didn’t even call me his ‘Forehead of Security’.” He, Pepper, and Rhodey were in the Tower, trying best to solve this issue.

“There’s only one thing left to do,” Rhodey said. Happy raised an eyebrow and Pepper sighed.

“We need the kid.”

* * *

 

Peter swung through Queens as he went through his daily patrol. He had already stopped a few burglaries and rescued a cat from a tree. He didn’t regret sticking to Queens. He was in high school; he wasn’t ready to let go of his life just to be an Avenger. He landed on one of his favorite places to sit, a fire escape near the 7 train. He pulled out a bag of gummi worms. He lifted his mask up partially and took a bite.

“Hey Karen,” He said, getting his AI’s attention. “Any police activity?” He chewed the candy, a small smile on his face.

“Negative Peter,” Karen said. “All seems clear.” Peter nodded as he finished his candy. He sighed, taking in the sunset. One of the reasons he loved that spot was because of the way the sun set behind the train tracks. If he had stayed at the Compound, would he have still had that? His thoughts were interrupted by Karen.

“Incoming call from Happy Hogan,” Peter was a bit surprised. Usually, he called Happy, not the other way around. He tossed the wrapper into his backpack and pulled the mask down.

“Go ahead Karen,” Peter said.

“Hey kid,” Happy said.

“Hi Mr. Hogan,” Peter said. “Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?” He heard Happy chuckle.

“No kid,” Happy said. “Everything’s fine. Tony just needs you to stop by the Tower. Something about fixing something in the suit?” Peter tilted his head. If Tony needed to talk to him, why didn’t he just call him? But then again, Tony Stark was a busy man. He shouldn’t be surprised to have a task like calling him delegated to Happy.

“Uh yeah sure,” Peter said, standing up. “I can swing by in about a half hour.” He heard Happy whisper to someone. Was Tony listening to him to Happy?

“Alright kid,” Happy said. “We’ll see you soon.” Then the call ended.

“Karen, calculate the best route to the Tower,” And then he was off.

* * *

 

Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy stood on the penthouse deck. Happy said Peter was on his way over and they assumed he was going to use webs to get there. And about a half hour after Happy got off the phone with the teenaged superhero, the masked hero known as Spiderman landed on the deck. It was somewhat comical to see a superhero with a backpack, but he did need a change of clothes. Happy walked up to him as Peter removed the mask.

“Thanks for coming by,” Happy said. Peter nodded. “Do you want to change?" 

“Is that okay?” Peter asked. “I’m not on patrol anymore.” Happy nodded.

“Rhodey can show you where to go,” Happy said. Peter turned and stared a little wordlessly at Rhodey. Rhodey walked up to him and held his hand out.

“Nice to meet you, kid,” Rhodey said. Peter just stared at him a little gob smacked.

“You’re War Machine,” Peter said.

“So I’ve been told,” Rhodey said, eliciting a snort from Happy. Peter realized his hand was still extended and he shook it, a little to excitedly. Sure, he had fought alongside Rhodey, but he had never actually met him. “Come on.” Rhodey walked inside and Peter followed him. Happy walked over to Pepper, hands in his pockets.

“You really think the kid will help?” Happy asked. Pepper smirked and nodded. Based on just how Tony spoke about the kid? Oh yeah, she was sure.

* * *

 

Tony was busy working on a new idea for his suit. Was it necessary? No. Did he need to make upgrades because of what happened in Siberia? Absolutely. He blinked rapidly. He knew he was exhausted, but this was necessary.

“Boss, you have a visitor,” FRIDAY’s voice intoned through the lab. Tony didn’t look up from his work.

“If it’s Rhodey, tell him to go away,” Tony said. He didn’t need another political conversation with Rhodey.

“Negative boss,” FRIDAY said. “It’s Peter Parker.” Tony looked up. Sure enough, Peter was standing in front of the glass. He tilted his head, a little shocked to see the kid. Usually, if Peter was stopping by, it was because he had arranged it. Peter saw him and waved, before a moment passed over his face that said he was regretting that. Tony sighed, putting the tool he was using down.

“Unlock the door Fri,” Tony said. He heard a click and then Peter pushed the lab door open.

“Hi Mr. Stark,” Peter said, walking in.

“Hey kid,” Tony said. “What are you doing here?” Peter pulled the sleeves of his sweatshirt down over his hands. Rhodey had filled him in on the situation; that Tony hadn’t slept in sixty hours and no one could convince him to stop working and rest. Rhodey seemed to believe that Peter could get Tony to leave the lab. He wasn’t sure why Rhodey thought that, but he had agreed to try.

“I just thought I’d swing by,” Peter said with a shrug. Tony gave him a look.

“Swing by, huh?” Peter smirked. “Well, do you want to help me with this?” Peter looked at the Iron Man armor on the table. As much as he wanted to, that wasn’t the point of him being here.

“Ah I shouldn’t,” Peter said. “But I’ve been patrolling all day and I wouldn’t want to mess anything up.” Tony thought about going back to work, but instead walked over to the kid.

“So if you’re not here to help,” Tony started. “Why are you here?” Peter fidgeted a little. He was a terrible liar and anyone who spent five minutes with him could tell that. “Rhodey called you, didn’t he?” Peter shook his head.

“Colonel Rhodes doesn’t have my phone number,” Peter said. “I met him five minutes ago.” 

“You met him in Germany,” Tony pointed out.

“Not really,” Peter pointed out and Tony rolled his eyes. 

“Kid I’m fine,” Tony said. “You can go home.” Peter frowned a little. 

“Well May’s not home,” Peter said. “She’s working the night shift. So if I leave, I’m just going to go back on patrol.” Suddenly, Tony felt a little bad for the kid. He knew what it was like to be alone. He always claimed he liked it. But truly, he had built his own AI so he was never really alone. May obviously loved Peter and didn’t want to leave him alone, but she had to make money and do her job. “I can just, you know, leave now.” He turned to leave and Tony caught his sweatshirt with his hand.

“Alright relax kid,” Tony said, releasing Peter’s arm. “You got some homework with you?” Peter nodded. “Go work on it. I’ll get us some food.” Peter nodded, doing as he was told. Tony exited the lab. He glanced back, seeing Peter sitting on the couch in the lab, taking books out of his backpack. He smirked a little before heading towards the penthouse.

* * *

 

Pepper sighed, a little disappointed as she stood in the bedroom. She was hoping that this last ditch effort meant her fiancée was going to actually sleep in the same bed as her that night. She sighed, deciding to go check on Tony anyways. 

She had been so sure that Peter could be the one to convince Tony to finally get some rest. It was clear to her that Tony liked the kid. He talked about his protégée in such kind terms, and for Tony that was a lot. She padded her way down to the lab, expecting to see Tony still curled over that damn suit. When she reached the lab, she noticed the center table was unoccupied. She typed in the code and entered, a little confused as she looked around.

“Oh,” She said quietly. Tony was on the couch, passed out. His legs were up and his head was pressed against a pillow. His mouth was open, just slightly, as if he was snoring. She couldn’t help but smile. She spotted Peter, sitting on the floor, working diligently on something in a textbook. He looked up suddenly, a little startled. He relaxed when he saw Pepper. She waved her hand, indicating he come over. He quietly packed his bag and moved across the room towards her. 

“Hi Ms. Potts,” He said quietly. Pepper patted his shoulder.

“Hi Peter,” She said, her voice as quiet as his. “You should get home, sweetie.” He nodded. “And thank you.”

“I don’t know if I really did anything,” Peter said with a shrug. “Mr. Stark was just helping me with physics homework and then I think he just kind of nodded off.” Pepper laughed lightly. 

“Either way,” She said. “Thank you. Get home safe, okay?” Peter nodded and left the lab. Pepper walked across the room. She leaned down and gently shook Tony’s shoulder.

“Wake up sleepyhead,” She said. Tony’s eyes opened and he seemed a bit confused at first, until he saw Pepper.

“Damn,” Tony said. “Your plan worked.” Pepper laughed lightly as Tony stood up slowly. “Where’s the kid?”

“Sent him home,” Pepper said. “Now come on, come sleep in your bed with your fiancée.” Tony smiled, albeit a little sleepily, and pulled her in for a kiss.

“If you insist,” Tony said. Pepper smiled and gently tugged him out of the lab. Tony followed, finally accepting that he needed to sleep. Pepper made a mental note to text Rhodey in the morning. But one thing was clear;

Peter Parker was officially the fourth member of the ‘Tony Stark Needs Sleep Squad’.

**Author's Note:**

> Scream with me on my tumblr? http://doctornineandthreequarters.tumblr.com


End file.
